Kingsford mail center closure going forward

KINGSFORD – Efforts to keep the U.S. Postal Service from closing its Kingsford Processing and Distribution Center have apparently reached a dead end.

According to Kingsford City Manager Tony Edlebeck, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin’s office reports that the postal service plans to move general mail processing out of Kingsford this summer. A little more than a year ago, the postal service confirmed plans to close the Kingsford center and move mail processing operations to a Green Bay, Wis., facility.

Sen. Levin, D-Mich., assisted an appeal to block the move, but Edlebeck told the Kingsford City Council on Monday that the postal service is not backing down.

As previously announced, retail operations at the Kingsford facility will continue, Edlebeck said.

Levin’s office indicates that express mail processing will remain at Kingsford, although that represents only a fraction of the current mail volume, Edlebeck added.

A year ago, postal officials estimated that closing the Kingsford center could impact 45 to 50 jobs.

At an October 2011 public hearing in Kingsford, postal representatives said consolidation would result in a two- to three-day service standard for first class mail within the Upper Peninsula. Currently, there is a next-day standard in the region.

At that same hearing, postal officials estimated that consolidating Kingsford operations with Green Bay operations would save nearly $5.3 million annually.